Gov. Cuomo seeks Staten Island prison reuse

Associated Press PhotoThe state has now formally issued a Request for Information to notify interested parties of opportunities to redevelop the former Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in Charleston.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- On the heels of the state launching a virtual online tour of the former Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in hopes of seeking a buyer, Empire State Development has now formally issued a Request for Information to notify interested parties of opportunities to redevelop the Charleston site.

The Cuomo administration closed the medium-security prison in December as part of an effort to shut prisons statewide to save money.

The state wants to redevelop the facility as part of the Economic Transformation Program and is seeking "conceptual proposals," according to ESD.

The RFI deadline is April 18.

"ESD is working with a number of state agencies to find productive reuse options for correctional facilities such as Arthur Kill," said ESD spokesman Austin Shafran. "ESD is responsible for marketing the property and will administer the grant and tax credit program. This is the first step in a public and competitive process through which the state will engage private businesses to get the most productive use out of the facility."

Borough President James Molinaro has said he was contacted by a deep-pocketed investor interested in the site and looking to retrofit it into a large-scale retail development. But Molinaro has declined to name the individual.

New Jersey billion-dollar developer Ironstate -- which is redeveloping the former Stapleton home port -- toured the site last fall.

Assemblyman Lou Tobacco, meanwhile, is encouraging Staten Island businesses and organizations to submit RFI proposals, calling it a "terrific opportunity" for a local entity to "transform the Arthur Kill facility into a community asset and economic development opportunity."

Tobacco (R-South Shore) has called for an "open and transparent" redevelopment process.

The nearly six-minute narrated video the state began to air earlier this month gives an inside look at the 69-acre property, including the former inmate units, educational buildings, kitchen, gym and Corrections officers' quarters.